Death in the Dragonmarks

An old mark is making a comeback

Having retrieved the artifact from making and widowing Kori the party made it’s way out of the Mournlands. Their journey out though was not uneventful and along the way they running into a demon patrol and a not right rain. Over coming those obstacles they mad their way to Sterngate so they may catch the lightning rail to Korranberg. Along the way they encountered an elf with a pair of bodyguards fending off an orc ambush. Assisting them they traveled together till Korranberg where the party off loaded various items they had acquired on their adventures. Using the proceeds from their goods they went on a bit of a shopping spree while Kori began to refill her scroll and wand reserves. After a few days the party decided is was time to move on to Aerenal. During the debate on how to get there it came up to ask the elf they escorted how she planned to return. As it turned out she had chartered an airship and was planning on leaving soon and offered the party a ride in exchange for their protection. accepting the offer they set out early the next morning. After a day of traveling the Elf revealed her true nature to be Erandis and a pair or vampire clerics. Subduing the party she has imprisoned them in a hide out somewhere in Eberron. Forcing them to hand over the artifact she has taken Kori to help her research it. Trapped in the dungeon the party must find a way out and possibly stop what ever plan Erandis is trying to execute.

I want to run an experiment. Try to edit this post with your summary of the session.

OK, I think THIS is what you meant.

Wrath’s Journal

After much discussion, it was decided that an appropriate fate for Francis, Cleric of Vol was becoming a statue of a mouse which would then be concealed from his friends. While Sally gave the Brass Dragon in the sand-filled room a full accounting of our doings, Korihime prepared a scroll with some sort of magic on it – my understanding of these matters is limited.

Once Sally emerged, her voice somewhat the worse for wear (odd how these breathers wear out and then self-repair), Francis was subjected to the two spells, and became a stone mouse. We then exited the Rainbow Keep after dividing the dragon’s hoard among us. I received a +2 Ring of Protection for my part.

We then traveled to Lakeside, a fishing village on the shores of Lake Dark, and hired a boat to Irontown. Somewhere in transit a tragic accident occurred and the statue of Francis the Mouse fell into Lake Dark. From Irontown we traveled to Krona Peak, a substantial city of the Mror holds, and sold some of our take from Rainbow Keep. Purchases were made; I bought some masterwork bracers.

Storing our special item in our vault, we took passage on an airship to Korst, docking directly at the Tower of the Twelve. We located Bob, delivered the special item, and received our pay. More shopping occurred; I ordered a +1 size large great sword and a size large composite great bow with additional strength required for the pull, and thus additional damage. It pleases me no end to know that soon I shall wield weapons sized for ogres.

While in Krona Peak, Jeffery had received communications which disturbed him regarding the Cyre refugees in Sharn. When we left Korst we traveled to Sharn via lightning rail, and began making our way to High Wall, the slum where dwell the people of Cyre. On our way we were assailed by bounty hunters, who were swiftly slain or driven off – save one Grace ir’Dracopaw, who claims to have been deceived by the leaders of the bounty hunters and asked to join our party. She seems quite naive but shows some slight skill in mounted combat, being a veteran of the Brelish 9th, and will hopefully be useful. Some of the others seems to have taken a dislike to the young lady. I will attempt to train her.

After resting and preparing their magic for the day the party decided to head down the white hall after encounter no new resistance that day. Moving cautiously Lianara was able to spot some residual dampness on the stone in front of them. Letting the rest of the party know Wrath decided to go first using the 10 foot pole to try and find a trigger. Finding none until he was almost to the door when a a wall of force sprang up behind him. At the same time a second wall sprang to life in front of Kori and Lianara and the resulting room began to fill with water. Waiting to see if the walls would disparate the party was rewarded for their patience but poor Wrath was knocked down by the on rushing water.

Entering the room the party was struck by the sudden drop in temperature as the floor and ledges where covered in snow and ice. Not seeing the dragon at all Rhuuna and Lianara heard what could only be snoring. Having Jeffery use his increasing useful boots to scout revealed the dragon asleep in the corner. Once againg using the extra dimensional bag to carry the rest of the party up they decided to try and have Wrath or Jeffery kill the dragon while it slept. Unfortunately Wrath was less than quiet getting out of the bag and woke the dragon. Reacting quickly the dragon shot down a hole not far away. Chasing after it Jeffery and Wrath were unable to do any damage to it. Taking a few bites out of the two fighters the dragon retreated back up the tunnel with wrath and Jeffery trying to follow but unable to due to how slick the ice inside was. Lianara was able to turn the tide of battle by remembering the vials of alchemist fire in her pack. Using those to great effect on the dragon caused it to take notice of her and attack using both claws and breath. Continuing to pelt the dragon the alchemical vials Jeffery and Wrath where able to land a few attacks as well as a dangerous volley from Lianara. But it was Korihime’s shot from a wand of magic missile that finally laid the dragon low. Skinning it this dragon proved to be hazardous to dispose of in the lava because of it violently exploding when tossed in.

Moving on down the brass tinged and final hall the party was able to bypass the traps and enter the room. Upon entering they notice that this room’s environment is fashioned after a desert complete with a huge sand dune. As they approached a large brass dragon appeared at the top of the dune.

Ecstatic to have visitors the dragon hinted that it would be nice if the party stayed and chatted for a while. Not wanting to anger the large beast the party obliged and promised to do so if the dragon would lend them the use of it’s key. Asking for a bit of their time after they finished downstairs and to let him know what was down there as conditions for letting them use it. The party found that reasonable and agreed leaving Rhuuna behind to converse with the dragon while they opened the door. Not getting attacked immediatly after opening the door the party retrieved Rhuuna and Sally promised the dragon to return with tales of what was below.

Decending to the keep’s basement the party enters a large cavern like room with a massive door along one wall and two smaller doors on the other walls. Reaching the bottom of the stair way they where ambushed by a pair of invisible stalkers. A bag of flour helped even the odds and the party make quick work of them.

After resting in the shelter provided by Kori the party prepared for the new day. Exiting the red dragon’s room they encountered a few skeletons of what looked to be the sorcerers that had been killed the previous day moving to engage them revealed not only the skeletons but also a few wights that looked to have been made from the soldiers. Quickly dispatching the annoying undead and throwing them into the lava pool they proceeded on down the green hallway.

Before proceeding down the hall Lianara did a quick search and revealed the existence of a trap door. Not taking any chances the party decided to just have Wrath, and Liliput with Rhuuna jump over the pit and Jeffery fly to the other side and carry a rope for the others to use. Sally and Lianara where able to use the provided rope to make their way safely across but Kori had a bit of trouble. Halfway across the rope she slipped and fell to the floor triggering the trap. As the floor gave away a flood of slippery grease coated the now sharply inclined floor causing Kori to slip and fall toward the now exposed wall of spikes. Reacting quickly Wrath as able snatch her up before she became impaled. Once safely together Kori had Wrath lift up the floor so she could lock it in place so the could walk over it on the way out.

Entering the Green dragon’s room the party saw no trace of the dragon but the murky water and barely solid ground was the correct type of environment for it. Moving a bit further in Wrath and Jeffery made their way to the second island directly in front of the door. As they where moving to a third island the dragon shot out of the water and attacked. Taking advantage of its ability to fly the dragon managed to stay out of the reach of much of the party. Those that could reach it wounded it slightly until a volley of multiple arrows from Lianara struck true killing the dragon. Getting it to shore the party skinned it and put the remains in the pool of lava in the red dragon’s room.

Still having the preparations from getting ready to fight the green dragon the party decided to try the black hall. Moving down the hall they noticed some writing on the wall. Detecting traces of magic from it Kori volunteered to disable it. Unfortunately she was quite up to the task and set off some of the runes, getting caught in the explosion. Staying on the side with the expended runes the party made it to the door. Opening it revealed a room very similar to the last. A bit more physical then the last 2 dragons this was the black dragons downfall and it was quickly dispatched skinned and disposed of like its green brother.

Having only the enhancements to their weapons to help them in any of the remaining dragon fights the party decided to try the blue corridor next. To traverse this hall the party used a somewhat unorthodox strategy after spotting gashes in the floor, ceiling, and walls. Having everyone but Jeffery climb into one of the extra dimensional bags Jeffery then used his flying boots to get them to the door. Once there Korihime was able to disable the control panel so they could leave once they where done. Entering the room the party saw towering spires as well as what looked to be a sleeping blue dragon on one of them. Behind to much cover for either Lianara or Kori to get a clean shot Jeffery used his boot to fly up to it to attack. Keeping to the air and using the spires for cover the dragon proved to be more difficult for the party. Finally getting it cornered the party was able to damage it enough for Lianara to deliver a killing volley of arrows. Also skinning a disposing of the remains the party decided that killing three dragons that day was enough and once again called on Kori to try and provide shelter which she was able to do.

Arriving back in Korth the party took a moment to sell old good and acquire new ones while they found a place for Kori to cast her scroll. Finding a suitable place Kori began casting once they had all checked. After about ten minutes of chanting they appeared to receive an answer to their call.

“Ask me your question,” the entity said through Korihime.

“What course of action will lead us to retrieve the artifact we seek?” Sally asked.

“To retrieve the artifact you seek, travel to where the Rainbow is kept above where the claw of emerald sleeps,” the entity answered before leaving Kori’s body.

Discussing the answer for about an hour and a half to two Kori declares that she’s had enough and is going shopping and will be back later.

While Kori was out shopping the rest of the party continued to discuss the riddle after another 2 hours of discussion someone floated the idea that it might be a place where very ancient dragon like creatures resided but was now held by the Emerald Claw as a headquarters. After returning Kori says she figured out what to do next and that was to forget about the riddle for a while and follow the second clue the retrieved from the office of Francis, the letter from someone in Cannith.

Kori then explained that Zolan d’Cannith ran the branch of House Cannith and had the resources to study the object as well as there being a rumor of him being a Blood of Vol worshiper. Deciding to check it out it was decided that Rhuuna, Lianara, Wrath, and Sally would try and ask around the Cannith enclave, on the opposite side of town, posing as an investor and her entourage.

Taking their time and picking up some elements of Sally’s disguise along the way they arrived at the Cannith enclave and where shown to a small receiving room where a member of the house asked if there was anything he could do for them. Making a story up that she had recently come into some money but was looking to make it disappear before the tax collectors came. Ideally she would like to invest it in a project that would result in a good return but wasn’t necessarily on the official books. The Cannith representative said that he understood what she was asking and excused himself for a few minutes to compile a list of things she might be interested in. After a few minutes Sally asked Lianara and her “snake” (a wild shaped Rhuuna) to “go and find the powder room” and cast a spell that rendered her invisible.

Using her already impressive stealth abilities Lianara proceeded to venture to where Zorlan’s office was only to be stopped by a closed lift and a closed and locked stairway door. Being patient she wait a few minutes for someone to enter the stairs then tailgated behind them and made her way to the correct floor. Arriving there she carefully opened the door to an empty hall with only an oblivious secretary. Moving to the office door she found that it was locked but a quick search revealed a key on the secretary’s desk which was quickly retrieved with the secretary being none the wiser. Entering Zorlan’s office she began looking for clues to where the artifact might be. Finding a few letters from Francis Lianara stumbled up a map of Cannith East’s holding in Karrnath studying the map for a little while she realized that not everything was being shown and found a switch that revealed two more locations. A secret personal workshop for Zorlan and another facility named Rainbow Keep.

Feeling she had all that she needed she made her way back to the conference room having to use a potion that rendered her invisible once again. Quickly concluding their business with Cannith the group returned to the room and shared what they had found. Using this information and the riddle from the scroll they decide to travel to Rainbow Keep and investigate it.

A few days of traveling finds the party at the foot of the Icetop Mountains in the front of a Massive structure at least 100 ft tall and almost as wide. Cautiously approaching the front door they found it was locked but not trapped with Kori unable to open the lock the party resorted to their secondary lock pick, Wrath, Sally, and Jeffery using the portable ram to break down the heavy wooden door. entering the keep revealed a smaller room than what the out side suggested. however while examining a bookshelf a bolt of acid just missed Sally and caused the imaginary wall to disappear and reveal a group of Emerald Claw soldiers and a pair of casters. Wrath quickly moved to engage the casters while Lilliput sprang into action mauling one of the soldiers and managing to poision him. He didn’t last long after that while Jeffery, Lianara, and Kori took care of two more soldiers. Wrath having managed to almost cut one of the mages in two turned his attention to the other one and managed to pin him to the wall with a spear. Lilliput and the rest of the party made short work of the last soldier. Recovering what they could off of the dead Francis appeared in the hall. Moving to attack Wrath found his sword passed right through him. After a breif conversation Kori ended it by turning off the emitter that was projecting the image explaining that it was a new desig from house Cannith East and only had short range meaning that Francis was probably in the facility.

Taking a bit more time to examine their surroundings they noticed each hall was lit with a different color; one red, one blue, one black, one green, one white, and one with a brassy tinge to it. They also found a secret entrance with no lever but six recesses each colored the same as the halls. Moving down the red hall first the party encountered a few traps that blasted them with acid, cold, and fire before they found a control panel and turned them off. Getting to the door they found that it was warm to the touch and unlocked. Sending in Wrath and Jeffery first they where blasted by a rush of really hot air and entered what looked like a cave with a pool of standing lava and a 20 foot high ledge. Wrath and Sally climbed up on the ledge to get a better view of the room when from the lava pool flew a large Red Dragon. Noticing a key around it’s neck Sally tried to ask for it but was refused and a battle ensued. At first the party wasn’t doing much damage to it and the dragon was able to catch almost everyone by breathing fire on them. being on the ground to do that let Wrath get in a devastating attack followed by Jeffery getting in a lighter wound this caused the dragon to take to the air once again where Rhuuna used a stone produced from her new bag on boulders to try and stop the dragon and in a true David vs Goliath moment managed to smash the dragon’s head in. Elated they had survived the party retrieved the key and skinned the dragon so that it could be made into armor later. Having almost exhausted themselves Kori enchanted a rope so they could have a place to rest for the night.